Reflection in a Dragon's Eye: Ronin to Redemption
by Snafu the Great
Summary: Ryu Houshi is being interviewed for a magazine article. We see a side of Ryu that has never been seen before, as his personal and professional life is revealed. A bonus chapter has been added.
1. Chapter 1

Reflections in a Dragon's Eye: From Ronin to Redemption  
A Street Fighter Fanfiction  
By The Headcrook

Legal Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Capcom Entertainment. The idea of Ryu giving an interview was going on in my head for a while and I decided to act on it. With Fight Hina finished, I wanted to write this before I forget. This is basically a magazine article on Capcom's resident Japanese Ansatsuken warrior, as we see a different side of him that has not been seen before.

**Bold text** denotes the interviewer speaking.

**(With his rugged appearance and polished charm, Ryu Houshi looks more like a Japanese heartthrob instead of a martial artist. We are at his dojo that he co-owns with his wife, Chun Li Xiang in the Aoyama district of Tokyo, sitting in the courtyard. The Ansatsuken-Wushu School of Martial Arts is one of the most popular schools in Japan, given the fact that the teachers are both world-class martial artists. The (formerly disowned) son of a Japanese corporate executive and a third-generation Japanese-American schoolteacher, Ryu √ formerly known as Shun Ryuji Hiroyuki - is the youngest child, having a older sister who owns her boutique, and brother, who is also a martial artist and executive of his father's company.**

**There are no classes today, since Ryu and Chun Li had given the students the weekend off. Dressed in casual clothes and headband, Ryu's manner is cordial and mood light, but he has seen and been though many trials in his years. He speaks perfect English with no accent, but when he speaks Japanese, he does so with a mild Kansai-ben accent as we sit over a pitcher of iced tea, given that he spent his childhood in Osaka. This is his first interview he's given since the release of Street Fighter Alpha collection as he watches his pupil (and niece), Sakura Kasugano practice with his two children, ages 7 and 9.)**

For starters, my last name wasn't Houshi at first. It was originally Hiroyuki before I was disowned and declared ronin by my father. Shocking, I know.

**You speak English very well.**

It's funny. I was taught how to speak English before Japanese. I can pull a mild or heavy Japanese accent just to throw people off. My mother was a English schoolteacher. I wasn't born in Osaka, I was just raised there. I was actually born in Honolulu, hence the dual citizenships. When I was six, I moved back to Japan with my family.

**Is English the only language you can speak?**

English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese...what can I say? I got a lot of free time on my hands, so I tend to study.

**It show. But why did your father disowned you and made you ronin?**

It was back when I was seventeen. He wanted me to follow him into the corporate world. But I've been studying martial arts ever since I was six and I was interested in opening up a dojo instead of working with stiff-necked executives. He also set up an arranged marriage between myself and another girl. She was in love with another man, so I canceled the engagement. **(smiles sardonically)** Dad was upset when he found out that the engagement was over. He meant good, but his problem was that he wanted to control our lives.

But I was the rebel of the family. When I told him that I didn't want an engagement to a woman who loved someone else, he was mad. But when I told him what I wanted to do with my life, he was furious. We ended up having a falling out and he threatened to disown me and declare me ronin if I didn't obey him. I refused, saying that he can't control my life and that he can go to hell for all I care. When I look back on that day, I tend to feel regret over what I said. We both had our pride and mine won out.

**So what did you do?**

When I told my master what had happened, he decided to let me stay with him for the moment. What I didn't tell my father was that Waseda University had offered me a full martial arts scholarship, so I jumped on that. But there was the matter of my name. Because I was disowned and a ronin, I needed a new name, otherwise they wouldn't have given me the scholarship.

People have been calling me Ryu instead of Ryuji ever since I was a kid and given my skills in the martial arts, people would tend to say that I was a rising star, a prodigy in the martial arts world. The Japanese term for 'star' was Hoshi, but I added the 'u' in the last name when I filled out the paperwork. Why I did that, I still don't know, but the last name looked good when writing it in English.

**And so, Ryu Houshi was born.**

In a sense. Without my father's constant badgering, I was truly free. I left my past behind and started to walk down my path in life. When I started working with Capcom, I legally changed my name to Ryu Houshi. For all intents and purposes, Shun Hiroyuki no longer existed.

**What about your mother? What did she have to say about all of this?**

She actually supported me in my decision. That was a good thing for me.

**So how did the rest of your family took the news of you being disowned?**

There were mixed reactions. My older brother, who was also a martial artist and the pride of my father, supported him while my sister was against it. Hiro was always the ass kisser, if you will, always looking for Dad's approval. When Hiro found out about my name change and that I was working for Capcom, he threatened to out me as a ronin.

**Wouldn't that have affected your employment with Capcom?**

No. Because I had told my bosses about my past and my new name. As long as I didn't use my old name, they didn't have a problem with it. Pretty effective loophole. So Hiro challenged me to a match, saying that if he won, then I would acknowledge that he was the better fighter and I would resign from Capcom in disgrace. If I won, then he would leave me alone.

**But you won the match.**

You can say that I had several tricks up my sleeve. Not that I got out of the match entirely unscathed. Ever since we were kids, he would use me as his personal punching bag. But let's just say that my dear brother would think twice in challenging me. Not after I demonstrated my newest technique on him.

**The Twin Fists of Death.**

Or the Shin Shoryuken if you prefer. Dad was watching in the audience as well. I knew he was there, but he didn't came for me. He came for his eldest. I could care less about what he thought. He was pissed to see Hiro lose to a 'disgraceful ronin' as myself.

**How did being a ronin affect your education?**

Being disowned does has its advantages. You are no longer bound to family honor, you can't hold back. What I've learned is that honor means bullshit if it affects your conscience. Dad was upset that his honor was compromised with the breaking of the engagement while mine was still intact. He wanted to live my life through his decisions and I refused. I knew that no university would accept a ronin, hence the change in name. Nobody didn't ask any questions about Shun Hiroyuki, which is how I wanted it to be. For all intents and purposes, my old life was gone, my name was scratched off from public records, no birth certificate, nothing. **(smiles)** Ken's dad managed to pull some strings and gave me a new life as Ryu Houshi through several documents, a new birth certificate and identification.

**So what got you interested in martial arts?**

Watching old martial arts films. Fighters like Sonny Chiba, Chuck Norris, even the late Bruce Lee. Mom knew Master Gouken through his daughter and that was how Ken and I got to train under him.

**Tell me about Gouken.**

He's very demanding. He wants nothing short of perfection in the martial arts. As I said, I started my training at six, and by the time I was fifteen, I earned my black belt in Ansatsuken. When I turned twenty, I gained Shihan status in the art.

**So he's not really dead? What about him and Akuma?**

Gouken's retired from martial arts. Akuma took over at the Osaka school. Gouken's more of a traditionalist when it comes to fighting, but Akuma is something of a radical.

**You learned from both of them.**

When I came to Tokyo, I studied under Akuma. Ansatsuken is like two sides of a coin. And I wanted to learn everything I can about it. Akuma was happy to help. When we started working on Super Turbo, I pulled several strings to have him hired at Capcom. He played the part of a possessed fighter well, and that also helped out plenty with the Dark Hadou angle.

**Do you know any other styles of fighting other than Ansatsuken?**

I studied both Judo and Kyokushin Karate, since Ansatsuken was based off of those styles, and that helped strengthen my Ansatsuken. I also studied Jiujitsu and Chun Li taught me Kenpo. She offered to teach me Wushu, but I declined. To pay her back for teaching me Kenpo, I taught her Ansatsuken.

**So it's really not really a form of Shotokan Karate, like we were originally told?**

No. Ansatsuken was designed as a killing art, that much is true. The name translates to Murderous or Assassin's Fist. Because of Street Fighter II's release onto the home systems, Capcom of USA changed the name from Ansatsuken to Shotokan Karate.

**The question that everyone want to know is how you got a job working for Capcom.**

Well, I graduated high school at sixteen, and three years later, I graduated from Waseda with a degree in physical education. I worked my ass off to the point that I skipped a grade and I gained enough credits to graduate a year early. I was also active in martial arts and competed in both full contact and the underground fight clubs. That was where I met Sagat.

**You mean you got a job at Capcom through Victor Sagat?**

Yeah. Well, both Ken and myself managed to get jobs through him. He was at one of the clubs where Ken and I would fight and he approached us, asking if we wanted a job working for Capcom. We didn't start off at the top, you see. Instead, we started at the bottom, as trainers.

**Ken? I thought that his father was a hotel tycoon.**

He is. Whenever I wasn't fighting or at school, I was working at the Masters International in Tokyo as a receptionist. Knowing more than Japanese tends to be helpful to foreign visitors. Ken was like myself. He wanted to be more than just the son of a hotel magnate. Sure he want to run the business later, but he wanted to do more. When I wasn't working at the hotel, I was working as a part-time stunt man for the Japanese film industry.

**How did you and Ken get involved with Street Fighter?**

It was...I think about a year when we got hired. Capcom wanted to do a fighting game. Ken and I were both stuck in at the last minute. Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto saw Ken and I sparring and asked if we wanted to join the cast. Ken almost said no, but I managed to talk him into it.

**Whose idea was it for you to win the tournament?**

I think it was Matsumoto's idea. Now, that gimmick where I won by scarring Sagat for life, that's false. For starters, he already had that scar on his chest to begin with. We used prosthetics and makeup to cover it. When we started working on the ideas for Street Fighter 2, Sagat refused to cover it up again, since the makeup had caused his skin to break out the last time. We both came up with the idea that he was out for vengeance because I scarred him for life. Takashi and Hiroshi loved the idea and we used that in the game.

**If you didn't scar Sagat, what happened?**

Well, when he was training in Thailand, he actually got mauled by a tiger, hence the scars on his head and the big one on his chest. Compared to what happened to the tiger, Sagat got off lucky.

**So you and Sagat are...**

Quite the opposite. We're both good friends, as well as rivals. We spar on occasion. I think we're both tied at 5 matches. We got a match coming up in a couple of months. All the stuff you heard about Sagat, being able to free-dive anywhere, holding his breath for nearly 20 minutes underwater and being a national hero in Thailand, that's all true.

**(By this time, the pitcher of tea is nearly empty. Chun Li appears and takes a seat next to Ryu.)**

So how did you and Chun Li meet?

Chun Li was a college graduate in business. She was also a former Kung Fu champion in Hong Kong. The guys at Capcom wanted a more diverse cast this time around and Chun Li was chosen out of several hundred girls for the slot to play the role of an I.C.P.O. agent hell-bent on revenge.

**(At that moment, Chun Li chimes in. She speaks English with a Hong Kong accent.)**

CHUN LI: I met Ryu at Tokyo International Airport. I was pretty much like a fish out of water, a Hong Kong girl in a foreign land. He and Ken were there to pick me up from the airport.

RYU: She also couldn't speak Japanese very well. She was fumbling over some words and phrases, until she started speaking English.

CHUN LI: When Ryu stated speaking English, I was shocked. He didn't look like the guy who would speak perfect English. He introduced himself and Ken, saying that they were both from Capcom and that they would be working with me on Street Fighter 2. The job was originally an internship but when Capcom saw how popular I became, they gave me a full-time job.

**So how did you two hook up?**

CHUN LI: I asked him to show me around Tokyo. Turned into an all-day affair. We talked about our families and our personal lives. He was a lot different than the other men I dated. They were either scared or wanted to get into my pants. Ryu was different.

RYU: We started to spend more time together once Street Fighter 2 was completed. We would spar together whenever Ken wasn't around, she taught me Kenpo and I taught her Ansatsuken. It was clearly professional.

CHUN LI: Until that day in August. We were in Hong Kong, visiting my family--

**Your family? I thought--**

CHUN LI: That Bison killed my father? That was part of the storyline. My father is very much alive. He is a retired Hong Kong inspector. He and my mother are divorced. Anyway, we were visiting my family in Hong Kong and I took him on a sightseeing tour around my hometown. [smiles at the memory We ended up sharing a kiss on the scenic point overlooking the city.

**I'll bet Ken had a field day when he found out that you two were romantically involved.**

RYU: He did. I had one hell of a headache from where he kept on giving noogies.

**(Chun Li excuses herself. She takes the now-empty pitcher and returns to the house.)**

We've kept our relationship a secret. Not because that I was Japanese and she was Chinese, mind you, but we just didn't want anyone asking too many questions.

**But some people knew about the two of you.**

Guile, Ken, Sagat, just to name a few. Before I met Chun Li, I dated a girl who was attending Tokyo University around the same time I was at Waseda. When I visited her at her apartment, I found her in bed with another man. Turns out she was cheating on me, has been for the past couple of weeks. I could have kicked the guy's ass to the moon, but I took the high road, informed her that we were over and walked out. I never saw her again.

**Street Fighter 2 went through numerous changes before settling on Bison and Shadowlaw. Care to explain?**

Originally, we had the idea that I became a fallen champion, having been seduced by the Dark Hadou and turning into a killer. That was scrapped, but we saved the Dark Hadou angle. Another was that Guile was a corrupt Air Force officer who was working with Shadowlaw, but that was scrapped as well. We came across Bison by pure chance. He was a former military man working as a bodyguard for some CEO. Capcom asked him to assume the role of the Shadowlaw warlord, and he accepted.

**That's when you came up with the ideas that Guile and Chun Li were after him for killing their family and friends. So what's Guile like? Are him and Ken really in-laws?**

They are. William met Julia when she and Eliza were working in D.C. Guile was a Captain in the Air Force back then. When he got discharged, Capcom USA hired him. William is one tough SOB. He can really push you to the limit if you're not careful. Some of the other guys found out the hard way.

**But no one could ever guess that you would wind up being Capcom's posterboy following the success of Street Fighter II.**

No one was. Street Fighter II pretty much shot my popularity to new levels, not just myself, but everyone else's. Everyone had their favorites from Chun Li to Guile. Chun Li especially, because of her she opened the door to female fighters you see now from Mai Shiranui to Ivy Valentine.

**Rumors are running around that you and Ken are more than friends.**

Those are just rumors. Ken is like a brother to me. We trained together, grew up together. At times he can be a royal pain in the ass, but you can't ask for a better friend and rival.

**Now, you almost lost your job due to your addiction to painkillers. Care to elaborate on that?**

Well...I was working with the other fighters. I would take aspirin for the pain after matches. Then as the months passes, I would go on to something stronger. I never thought that I would become addicted to something like Vicodin. To tell you the truth, I never thought I had a problem until I started breaking various objects.

**But you never struck Chun Li.**

Would you strike a woman who can fight back? Chun Li was the one who saw that I was addicted. So did the bosses at Capcom, who gave me six months to clean myself up. One of them wanted to fire me on the spot, but the other two decided that since I was a valued employee, they give me some time to recover.

**How was the withdrawal phase?**

Pure hell. Detoxing isn't as easy as it shows. You get the chills, you sweat, you just want to satisfy that craving. I knew that I couldn't detox in Japan, so I went to Hawaii. Chun Li and Ken came with me. If it wasn't for them, then...I don't even want to think about what would have happened. I owe my job and probably my life to the both of them.I managed to complete the detox in three months. I spent the other three recovering and training.

**That's when you two decided to elope.**

We did. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We got married in a courthouse in Hawaii. Ken and Eliza were witnesses.

**How did the higher-ups at Capcom take it when they found out?**

Most companies would look down on employees being romantically involved, but I think they decided to let us slide on this one, since she was instrumental in helping me recover. I even heard that the bosses even placed bets on whether or not Chun and I would get hitched.

**You came back just in time for Street Fighter III.**

I felt better. A whole lot better than I felt in a long time. I almost missed production because of a flight delay. I went back to work the following day after I came back from Hawaii.

**But then, you were hospitalized.**

It was during the production of Capcom vs SNK 1. I was already finished with my spot and I was having pains in my side. Turns out it was my appendix, which nearly ruptured during production. So I was out for two months recovering from that.

**We heard that Kyo had put you out for two months.**

**(scoffs)** Kusanagi said that? He is a skilled fighter, but a bit short on manners. He can't even win a match by himself, let alone claim that he is my equal.

**You've fought against him.**

I have. Three times. The first two I managed to win, but the third match was on his terms - a King of Fighters-style match. He had his teammates, I had mine - Guile and Ken. If Kyo could let go of his ego and pride, he would become unstoppable. He pushed me to the brink, I'll give him that, but the match ended in a draw. We both executed our moves at the same time, but we ended knocking each other out the third time around.

**Any other notable fighters you came in contact with from SNK?**

Terry Bogard, for one. Now that's a guy I wouldn't mind getting into a full-blown brawl with.

**Which you did.**

Several times. **(grins)** To tell you the truth, I like fighting Bogard more than Kusanagi, because Terry is more of a challenge. He can really give you one hell of a workout. Kim Kaphwan is another. A bit eccentric on his ideas of justice, but still a good guy. The guys from the Kyokugenryu School, although Yuri tends to steal my moves.

**What about from the other companies, like Namco and Tecmo?**

I've had several memorable matches with fighters from both companies. The Mishima Wrecking Crew, that's one...Paul Phoenix, that's another. The two kunoichi Kasumi and Ayane from Dead or Alive got extraordinary talent as martial artists. But my favorite matchup would have to be against the man who shares the same name as I do: Ryu Hayabusa.

**You fought Ryu Hayabusa?**

Ever since Street Fighter II came out, we've been fighting. We both lost count on how many times we won and lost. He's a sneaky little fighter. But then again, all ninja are.

**Out of all that has happened, what happened between you and your father? Did you two reconcile?**

We did. I guess it was after the match with Hiro that he started to think about what he done. I wasn't expecting him to show up at the opening of Chun Li's restaurant. I could have went to him, but he was the one who threw me out, so I wanted him to come to me.

Like I said, aside from co-owning the school, Chun Li is also the owner of a bar and grill restaurant in Shujinku which specializes in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. She opened the restaurant after we completed SvC Chaos with SNK. Now, if you took a good look at the old man, he looks a lot like Sonny Chiba back when he was younger. He still looked the same, only his hair was starting to go gray.

Mom was with him, as were my brother and sister. The entire restaurant was silent as I faced my father, with Chun Li at my side. They knew about the circumstances of me being disowned and they wanted to see what I would do. He bowed to me, saying, "I'm sorry, Houshi-sama. I am so sorry."

I guess my next move surprised everyone. When he came back up from the bow, I embraced him. With that little gesture, I forgave my father, and we made our peace. Turns out he was keeping tabs on me from all my accomplishments to even my painkiller addiction. Mom had finally gotten to him, making him admit that he was wrong and told him to make amends.

**What about your brother?**

We managed to come to a truce of sorts. Then the party resumed, this time with my family joining in. Dad was a bit apprehensive in me introducing him to several world-class martial artists, but it worked out pretty well. We're talking now. He got a chance to meet his grandchildren for the first time in a decade.

**How old are your kids?**

Lynn is nine and Kai is seven.

**You and Chun Li were married in a courthouse. Did you two ever got a chance to go through a real wedding ceremony?**

We talked about it after we got hitched, and we agreed that after I completed Street Fighter III, we'd have a Western-style ceremony. It was in the papers, the wedding was held on the front lawn of the Masters Estate in San Francisco, the reception inside the Masters Estate itself. We honeymooned in Fiji, a place Chun Li wanted to visit. We stayed there for almost a month before going back to Japan.

**I see that you took Sakura on as your pupil.**

Why shouldn't I? She is my niece, after all.

**Niece?**

She my sister Miko's eldest daughter. I told her about the work-study program that Capcom was hosting and Sakura jumped on that. She's a good kid, but a bit too cocky.

**Just like you when you were starting out.**

But I managed to grow out of that. Sakura's potential is limitless. After Alpha 2, Capcom offered her a full-time job...provided that she also attends college. I still had some connections at Waseda and got her in. She's majoring in physical education with a minor in photography. She already works as a junior teacher here, but she wants to be certified in teaching Ansatsuken.

**Good for her. So what can we expect from Ryu Houshi in the near future?**

Aside from kicking ass? Well, I'm just playing it by ear for the moment. I got a stable job, a loving family, a successful business and friends I can depend on. Someone once said, "Redemption isn't given. It is earned." They were right. With all that has happened to me, I feel that I have gained my own personal redemption and have found inner peace.

In the meantime, I'll continue to fight and keep the fans happy.


	2. Chapter 2

Notes: Eventhough Reflections was a one-shot deal, I decided to do a follow-up interview on Ryu.

**(Capcom of Japan headquarters. We are on the set of Street Fighter IV. From what we heard, this game takes place between the events of Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter III. The set is that of a Chinese street. We see Ryu Houshi, along with his friend Ken Masters fighting. After several minutes, the fight ends in a draw. While Ken gets pampered by his wife, Ryu walks over to me. He shakes my hand as we both take a seat.)**

**Looking good, Ryu.**

Oh, you're back. Came to do a follow-up interview?

**Yup. Everyone is psyched about the release of Street Fighter IV, as well as the recent release of your autobiography, _Reflections in a Dragon's Eye_. What made you want to write your autobiography?**

Aside from martial arts, I have a talent for writing. It was Ken's idea for me to put out my story. Ever since I was a kid, I kept journals, and I still got them. Of course, we're talking about over 12,000 pages of material, written in both English and Japanese. Ken and Chun Li were helpful in my task.

**I'll bet. So far, your book is number one on all the best seller's list for the past month.**

Everyone wanted to know about the real me, despite how Capcom portrayed me in the game as a man who wants to become the strongest.

**I also see that you don't pull no punches in this book.**

I love being blunt about things. I call it like I see it. I try and tell the truth...most of the time, anyway. I got some calls from some of the other fighters about the book. Some praised me, while others are jockeying to fight me. **(grins)** If they, as Ken would say, want a shot at the title, they are more than welcome. Besides, those that want to fight me, I asked their closest friends about how they act, not to mention seeing it for myself.

**Well since we're on the subject of being blunt, maybe you would like to explain the tape.**

You mean...that tape?

**(Nods) The sex tape you made with Chun Li.**

**(Ryu shifts in his seat, but maintains his cool demeanor.)**

That tape happened by accident. We were shooting the Animated Movie in Seattle. Remember the infamous shower scene with Chun Li?

**How can I forget? That was one of the more memorable scenes in the movie. That scene was also repeated by Mai Shiranui in the Fatal Fury anime. But Chun Li's scene was much hotter. (Ryu looks at me questingly) My friend got a copy of the tape.**

Hentai. Anyway, someone forgot to turn off the damn camera. Maybe they were mesmerized as to see what I go home with every night, I don't know. While everyone was out at dinner, Chun and I snuck back onto the set. This was when we were keeping our relationship a secret from everyone. We started kissing, and then it led to the shower. **(smiles sheepishly)** We should have been more careful. The next day, the director calls in me and Li and showed us the tape. He was smart enough to hand us over the tape.

**But the tape did get out anyway. Who was responsible for that? Your estranged father or brother?**

Someone more dangerous. My ex-girlfriend, Miyabi Tazikawa. Remember in our last interview that she betrayed me by sleeping with another man? I gave you the brief version of what had happened, since the issue is still a sensitive matter for me and it still makes me angry thinking about it. When I confronted her, with the other man, she had no remorse. She even laughed in my face, telling me that she was glad that she hooked up with what's-his-name and that I was a dumb jock of a ronin who wouldn't amount to nothing.

**Then what happened?**

I called her a despicable rotten bitch. I've heard rumors about her behavior from several folks who knew her. Turns out that she was pulling this crap ever since high school, picking on weaker people, manipulating events to make it look like that she was the victim. She even sent her newest boy-toy after me. The fight took place outside. Fortunately for me, there were plenty of witnesses who took my side once Miyabi's lover attacked me. Bastard came at me with a katana.

**So much for honor.**

As I've told you before, honor tends to keep you from reaching your full potential. As for myself, I wasn't bound to no honor code, given my ronin status. (grins evilly) So I didn't hold nothing back. He ended up in the hospital with a broken jaw. Compared to what I can do, he got off lucky. The police didn't arrest me, since it was self-defense. But Miyabi could hold a grudge and swore she would destroy me.

**Which is where the tape came into the picture.**

Yes. Turns out that Miyabi's cousin was on the editing staff for the Animated Movie. She made her a copy of the tape and gave to Miyabi, who tried to blackmail me, demanding that I pay her $30,000, or else. I paid her no mind and told her to fuck off. Then she said that she owned my ass and that I was going to pay. In Japan, that kind of behavior would be disgraceful and would have caused both Chun Li and myself to have been fired from Capcom.

**But instead, it did the opposite.**

**(smiles sardonically)** Ironic what a 15-minute sex tape can do to one's career. Not only Chun and I was popular with the younger crowd because of Street Fighter II, we even became more popular with the hentai crowd. There was however, an internal investigation as to what had happened. Eventhough Chun Li and I were both found not to be at fault, Capcom still suspended us following the completion of the Animated Movie.

**How long was the suspension?**

Two months without pay. Capcom may have been harsh, but even they see a good investment. And rather than to lose us to either Tecmo, Midway or even SNK, they decided to keep us around. During the time we were suspended, I found out that Miyabi was responsible for what had happened. Chun Li was furious. Since we were suspended, we decided that it was open season on one Tazikawa Miyabi. When she found out that we both were still employed and that we were coming for her, she made the first move. Miyabi was a executive with a company who sponsored several karate clubs, some of which Akuma has a bad habit of fighting at once.

**Miyabi sent them after you and Chun Li?**

Yup. Two against forty hardcore karateka, kendoka and biker gangs. Hardly fair, right? The karate teams thought the best vengeance was to take out Gouken's pupil. What I wasn't expecting was the backup that we both received.

**I remember that brawl. It was in Shujinku. Ken, Cody Travers, Guy and Guile were there, as were Akuma, Sagat and even Bison were there to help. Miyabi had that taped too, so she could watch you and Chun Li get beaten down.**

Instead, it was the bad guys that gotten schooled in the martial arts. When you get into a fight like that, the few against many, the adrenaline really gets pumping, everything happens so fast. It's one hell of a rush, which is why I love my job here at Capcom.

**And Miyabi?**

Miyabi herself is an expert in Judo. I wasn't going to fight her, but Chun Li sure as hell did. Once everything was settled down, she was stripped of her position and was fired for abusing it. The last I heard, she was somewhere in Brazil.

**That fiasco in Shujinku also boosted Street Fighter II's popularity.**

That it did.

**You have been a maverick your entire career. You picked fights with other martial artists from Tekken, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters and even Dead or Alive. Care to comment?**

I have been something of a rebel, yes. But most of the time, the fighters from said videogames challenge me to a match. I mean, what better way to boost your career than to defeat Ryu Houshi. Liu Kang challenged me during the O-bon festival, Hayate found me while I was in Brazil training, and my personal favorite, Geese Howard attacked me while I was in my hotel room.

**You kicked him out of the window?**

And right into the swimming pool 10 stories below. Lucky for him he fell into the deep end.

**And the rumors that you were something of a ladies' man?**

False. I flirt with women, yes, but I'm nowhere near as bad as Ken. He is the real playboy between the both of us. Guile and I are still amazed that he is still loyal to Eliza. Maybe he knows a good thing when he sees it. I don't know.

**Does Chun Li know?**

She does. Usually, I let the woman flirt with me first before I respond. But after Chun Li and I got married, I toned it down. Even after all of the crap I've been through, Chun Li was there to help me get back on my feet.

**I've got to ask you this, Ryu. What made you wear the headband? Did Ken really give it to you?**

He did. That scene in the Animated Movie did happen in real life. When I was seventeen, Ken kicked me down a flight of stairs and I busted my head. After getting my head stitched up, he gave me the headband to hide the scar. **(Ryu undos the headband. Over his right eyebrow, is a scar, a small mass of scar tissue)** Stone steps are sharp as hell, should you land on them the wrong way. My head was throbbing for the rest of the week. But I like the headband regardless. **(puts it back on)**

**It suits you well. Your comments on family honor in your memoirs has turned several heads.**

You mean it made some people angry.

**It did.**

Those people haven't experienced the life of a ronin. Now you read in novels and watch films that shows ronins as being disgraced and shunned from everyone they knew. One cannot sprout the honor code if they are abusing it themselves. That is hyprocrisy. We Japanese tend to take honor too seriously and that forces us to make some really bad decisions. You can't use honor as an excuse if you screw up. But there are some out there that do agree with me about my comments on honor.

**After all this time, you and the rest of the bunch are working on Street Fighter IV. Care to give some little tidbits?**

Aside from myself, Ken, Chun Li and Guile, Honda and Blanka are in it, as well as Dhalsim. I can't give out all the details, but you won't be disappointed.

**Let's hope so. Good seeing you again, Ryu.**

You too.


End file.
